Strange Mercy
by MBLite
Summary: Sequel to How I Spent My Summer Vacation, Rated R for all the violence and naughty words, Evo/Buffy Crossover, an angst packed final chapter six is up. Epilogue coming soon. Soonish. Eventually.
1. The Away Team

AN: Hey there, hi there.  This is the sequel to the cliffhanger that was _How I Spent My Summer Vacation.  _In the Buffyverse, this would take place after "Older and Far Away," but from there it departs from the normal Buffyverse- basically, any events on the show from "As You Were" and after didn't happen in this story.  Disclaimers du jour: I don't own dustbuster, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, (Fox does), X-Men: Evolution (I'm guessing Marvel and Warner Brothers have a joint thing goin' on there), the term bizarro technically belongs to D.C. Comics, I think, I don't own Captain Kirk or any of the Star Trek Franchise, nor do I own _The Real World._  

            Rogue and Buffy stared at each other across the room as the handle of the shovel clattered to the ground.

            "What happened?" Willow asked, looking with awe and fear at Tara.  Rogue swallowed hard and replied.

            "They're gone."

            Pietro lost his balance and hit the pavement as his hands came up empty.

            "What the hell happened?" Spike asked, picking himself up off the ground.  Pietro got up and searched for his shovel handle or any other object wooden and pointy.

            "If I remember right, I was about to shove a piece of wood through your heart and send you to hell in a dustbuster for messing with my girlfriend," Pietro muttered.

            "That's right, as I recall, I was about to kick your cocky arse," Spike replied, marching up to Pietro and giving him a shove.  The fist fight deteriorated rapidly into both wrestling on the ground, so engrossed that neither noticed the newcomers approaching.

            "Here kitty kitty…" a feminine voice purred from out of the shadows.  Both Pietro and Spike looked up from trying to kill each other.  "Lookie, two pretty blondes in a catfight.  Mrow."

            "You'll have to forgive her," a male voice chimed in from the dark.  "She's got a real thing for beautiful blondes."

            Both of the 'blondes' in question had the distinctive feeling that they were in trouble as the female voice, all too eager, asked brightly,

            "Play now?"  

            She emerged from the shadows, slinking like a panther from the dark to peer at the two boys.  Her companion likewise emerged, both circling Pietro and Spike closely, allowing little room for escape.  Pietro briefly thought of making a run for it, but after his sprint to California and his bursts of speed this evening, he doubted he'd make it very far before exhaustion set in.  Besides, given the two faces he was looking at, he clearly wasn't in Kansas anymore.  

            "What have we here?" the dark haired young man softly inquired, his eyes flicking occasionally to the redhead's, then back to Pietro and Spike.

            Both were clad in black leather, which was the first thing that threw Pietro.  They were a little younger and a lot slinkier, but these two bore a striking, which is to say identical, resemblance to the redheaded friend of the slayers and the 'old guy' who'd been driving.  

            "This is disturbing on many levels, and not at all the way I'd imagined it.  I'll just see my way out," Spike said, but as he tried to walk away, he found himself face to face with the dark haired boy.

            "We have one fresh little kitten, Xander," the redhead said, trailing her cold fingers along Pietro's chest.  "And what a good little kitten he is…"

            "And over here we have a bad old tomcat pushing his eighth or ninth life, Wills," Xander replied, casting a much less sensual and much more combative look over Spike.  

            "Come now," Spike replied with a cocky half smile.  "I'm not that bad."

            "And I'm not that good," Pietro added, not smiling at all as he tried to keep his eye on all three vampires while looking for something that would kill them.

            "Do you want to play with me little kitten?" Willow asked, cocking her head to one side, eyeing Pietro with the same perverse innocence with which a cat regarded a hurt bird.  Pietro got the impression that was also how she meant the word 'play.'  Xander kept his eyes locked on Spike, and spoke.  

            "I know you hate to eat and run baby, but the sun's gonna be up before too long.  Drink up."

            "What are you gonna do?" Willow asked, resting her head on Pietro's shoulder and gazing at Xander, toying with the mutant's white hair.  Xander looked over Spike's shoulder to meet Willow's coquettish gaze.

            "I'm gonna strip the muscles off bloody Billy's legs and leave him here to work on his tan."

            "Poetic," Willow replied.  "But I haven't had a kitten this pretty in so long… can't we keep him?"  Her hand snaked up to the back of his neck, holding him tight at the base of his skull.  

            "Okay, baby, but you're gonna have to take care of him," Xander replied, smiling.  Willow moved to look Pietro in the face.

            "Oh I will.  Extra _special_ good care," she said, snapping her teeth near his nose.  Her hands shot around Pietro's neck, constricting the blood flow until he blacked out.

            "And I think it's high time we got our puppy a playmate, don't you?" Xander smiled.

            Spike sighed.

            "I'm sure this is interesting somewhere in your kinky little brains, but I'm bored out of my bloody gourd.  If you're going to make a move, I suggest you do it, children."

            "Have no fear, gramps," Xander replied, his face shifting to reveal the demon.  "Me and my lady friend got moves you've never seen."

            Spike did his best and held his own, but it was two on one, and given his relatively poor diet since he had his chip implanted, and the fact that Xander and Willow were only one generation removed from the Master himself, Spike was completely outmatched.  It wasn't long before the two vampires were walking down the street hand in hand, each with an unconscious prize slung over their shoulder.

            Tara swallowed hard as she looked at the girl with white streaks in her hair.  There was a dark bruise blossoming on the left side of her jaw, her mouth was set grimly, her dark eye make up smudged, leaving dark streaks around her eyes.

            "Where is he?" Rogue asked coldly.

            "I'm not  s s s sure…" Tara stammered out.  "I just wanted to keep them from killing each other so I called on Kwan Yin, the Chchchinese ggoddess of mmmercy-"

            "How do we find them?"  Buffy asked, keeping a careful eye on Rogue in case she decided to make a move on Tara.  

            "Hey, can I make a motion that we take this meeting outside of the cemetery?" Xander interrupted.  Rogue gave him a brutal look, and he stepped back, both hands in the air.  "Don't mind me, just a thought."

            Eventually they agreed to his suggestion, going back to the Summers house to regroup and plan.

            "I'm gonna need a mirror, round if you've got one," Tara said, carefully avoiding Rogue's gaze.  Buffy left the living room to go find one, as Willow brought out a black eyeliner pencil.

            "What are you doing?"  Tara asked.

            "I'm in detox, I don't have amnesia.  I remember how these things go."

            Tara gave her a slightly disapproving look, but let it go without comment as Buffy returned with the mirror.  A few runes drawn around the mirror's edge and the device was ready.  Tara chanted a few words, but Rogue wasn't listening.  She just stared at the mirror's surface, hoping that this incantation would work.

            "I see them…" she said.  "Oh my god… Willow, is that you?"

            Willow looked over her shoulder.

            "Oh…"

            "Oh?  Which kind of oh?" Xander asked frantically, walking over to the mirror, followed by Anya and Buffy.

            "Oh," Buffy said, in the tone of one quite surprised.

            "Oh," Anya added, in the tone of a person feeling slightly sheepish.

            "Oh," Xander finished.  "We are _so _screwed."

            "Xander!" Willow protested.  "Don't be pessimistic, we beat her when she came to our universe."

            "I've been meaning to get you a pair of leather pants," Anya said, more to herself than Xander.

            "Who are those people?" Scott asked.

            "Once upon a time, a certain vengeance demon granted a wish," Buffy said, shooting a meaningful glance at Anya.  "That I had never come to Sunnydale.  That's Xander, that's Willow.  In that world, they were killed and turned into vampires.  Vamp Willow once got transplanted to our world accidentally.  It was scary."

            "And skanky," Willow added.

            "And kinda hot," Xander finished.  This statement earned him dirty looks from everyone in the room.  He stepped away from the mirror.  "I'll just be over here."

            "I don't understand why a Kwan Yin incantation would lead to this result," Tara sighed.  "She's the kindest deity there is."

            "You asked her to save them from each other," Buffy said.  "I doubt they'll have time to try and kill each other in bizarro world."

            "How do we get Pietro out?"  Rogue asked coldly.

            "We can get them _both _out," Buffy replied.  

            "Going to an awful lot of trouble for an informant," Scott said.

            "Look, he's also a friend," Buffy snapped.  "An idiotic, infuriating, mercenary friend.  I'm sorry he was involved in…" Buffy struggled for a noun.

            "My kidnapping and attempted murder?" Rogue supplied.

            "Excuse us for just a sec," Jean interrupted, grabbing Rogue's arm and pulling her away from the mirror into the dining room.

            "I don't blame you for wanting the vampire dead, Rogue," she said.

            "I don't want him dead.  I just don't feel a burning need to play a part in rescuing him."

            "Rogue, you've done things you're not proud of.  Pietro's done things he's not proud of.  We all have.  I know it's… frustrating.  But we need these people to get Pietro back.  If we don't cooperate, they won't either."

            The two girls returned.

            "If you can get find us a way into their world and back, we'll bring back both Pietro and Spike, if they're still alive," Rogue said grimly.  "Can you do it?"

            "I don't know," Tara said.  "I can get you there, but without someone else who can do the spell to stay behind as an anchor, there's no way I can get us back."

            "I'll do it."

            Tara turned to look at Willow with fear and anger.

            "No, you won't."

            "There's nothing dark about this spell, Tara," Willow said and shut her eyes, speaking slowly in a low, trembling voice.  "I live on the Hellmouth.  Pretending that magick isn't there isn't going to make it go away.  It's in me.  You've said it yourself, it's all over me, and it's building up inside me.  If I don't learn moderation now, it's only a matter of time before it kills me."

            "What if you start slipping again, Willow?"  Tara asked, the desperation in her voice making it clear that she had been dreading this conversation for some time.

            "If it's going to happen, Tara, it's going to happen.  I'm either strong enough or I'm not."  There was a silent standoff between the two, and in that silent moment of eye contact, each relived all the hurt that had been done, all the betrayal and regret.  There must have been hope in there as well, because eventually, Tara softly said,

            "All right."  Willow did not look excited or relieved, she just nodded.  "But you're staying here and keeping the pathway open from this side.  I'll go and do the searching.  Now we have to keep this path narrow so nothing sneaks back into our world that isn't supposed to be there.  I can only send three people besides myself."

            "I'm going," Rogue said firmly, and no one seemed inclined to object.

            "So am I," Buffy said, with just as much conviction.  

            "I gotta object there, Buff," Xander said.  "That's kinda like Captain Kirk leading the away team."

            The others looked at him blankly, and he sighed.

            "You know, you'd get it if it was a reference to _The Real World._  Buffy, you've got responsibilities here, most importantly to Dawn.  Spike got himself into this, he's lucky that he's getting out at all."

            "You gotta send _someone _who can throw a decent punch," Buffy replied.  

            "I can throw a lot more than that," said a voice from the doorway.  Kitty's face lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw who it was.

            "Lance!!" she cried, racing up and throwing her arms around his neck.  "How did you find us?"

            "I sent him directions," Jean replied, tapping her temple.  Once he got done smooching Kitty, Lance gave Scott a disparaging look.

            "First you lost Rogue, now you lost Pietro.  This is getting ridiculous."

            "We've still got to pick another two people to go," Tara said.  "Can we save the finger pointing for later?"

            "I'll go," Lance said.  

            "Lance can cause earthquakes," Kitty said.

            "Big ones," Lance added.  

            "And who else?"

            "Jean.  She can find Pietro by his thoughts," Rogue said.  "If you're willing to go."

            "How many times do I get to go universe hopping?  I'm in."

            "But if Lance is going, I should go too," Kitty protested.  Lance hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

            "Baby, first Rogue got in trouble and Pietro had to rescue her.  Now Pietro's in trouble and Rogue and I have to rescue him.  If you come with us, then something's gonna happen to you and you're gonna need rescuing, then something happens to me, it's a vicious cycle.  Sides," he said, smiling down at her.  "I don't want my pretty kitty getting hurt."

            Buffy and Xander packed up bags of weapons for the four of them while Willow and Tara worked out the spell, rolling up the carpet and drawing a large circle on Buffy's floor with a smaller circle in the center. 

            "Trick or treat bag of weaponry for you, trick or treat bag of weaponry for you," Xander said, handing backpacks to Jean and Lance.  "I recommend the crossbow.  Distance weapons?  Always a plus.  Holy water is best in a pinch, won't kill 'em but it'll distract 'em long enough to nail them."

            Buffy handed Tara a backpack, saving Rogue for last.

            "Promise me you won't kill him," she said to Rogue, somewhere between an order and a plea.  Rogue looked at her levelly.

            "If he's still alive, I'll bring him back.  But if I were you, I'd start thinking a lot harder about who I give my trust to."

            Buffy grinned bitterly.

            "You don't know the half of it."

            The four travelers stepped into the large circle as Willow set a chair in the smaller one.  

            "Are you sure you can handle this Willow?" Tara asked.  The redhead gave her one-time lover a look so full of sorrow, regret, and, ultimately, strength and absolute devotion that there could be no questioning what she said next.

            "I disappointed you once and I died inside.  I'll die before I do it again."

            Willow spoke a few words in Latin and the circle filled with white light, and when it faded, Jean, Rogue, Lance and Tara were gone.


	2. Over the rainbow

AN: Okay, it's been brought to my attention that there are some X-Men: Evo. fans who are not familiar with the Buffy-verse.  This fic contains tons of spoilers up to the season six episode "Older and Far Away."  At the end of this chapter, there'll be a character guide for the Buffy-verse for anyone who needs it- bear in mind that this is the Buffy-verse as it exists in this story, so characters may differ from the normal Buffy timeline, yadda yadda yadda.  Oh, and this fic will make a _lot _more sense if you read, or at least skim _How I Spent My Summer Vacation _and _Tag. _  _Tag _is a non-crossover which is my very own version of how Rogue and Pietro got together, and _How I Spent My Summer Vacation _is the prequel to this story.   Anyway, Marvel and Fox own everything.  

            The four travelers arrived to a bloody sunrise, the dusty ruins of Sunnydale turned red in the rusty light.  

            "If they're here, they're unconscious," Jean said.  "I can't feel them."

            Rogue eyed the few frightened people who'd begun to emerge from their homes who glanced at their party in fear, then kept walking as fast as they could.  

            "I'm surprised people still live here," Jean said.

            "They don't have a choice," Lance said.  "Property values drop, sometimes you can't afford to leave."

            "I don't wanna waste time," Rogue muttered.  "Jean can't find 'em till they're conscious, we're not gonna find any vampires while the sun's still up."

            "So what do you wanna do?"

            "I've spent a lotta time unconscious in the past 24 hours, but Jean's probably pretty damned exhausted.  We'll find a hotel room to hole up in, then I gotta find some more clothes so I don't start throwin' up in the middle of a fight.  Then we should see if we can find a local map or something, pick up some food.  It's gonna be a real long night."

            At first, Tara was surprised that the hotel manager only wanted twenty dollars for the day, then she realized that this Sunnydale probably didn't see a whole lot of visitors.  Lance went with Rogue to find more clothes and look for food and a map.  Tara remained with the redhead, Jean, who fell apologetically but immediately asleep as soon as she hit the bed.  The blonde witch gazed from the fourth story window over a Sunnydale so different from the one she knew, the one where she'd been so close to happy, and thought about Willow, sitting in the chair in the circle back in Buffy Summers' living room, a bright and burning Polaris that Tara could find and reach out to, knowing that Willow's strong and familiar power would reach out and guide her home.  It would be everything that Willow was, a blinding light which cast a dark and deadly shadow.  Willow had both within her, she had once dwelled exclusively in the light, and later, when crisis after crisis demanded magick more terrible, Willow had walked in that shadow.  Willow was right; there was no way she could hide from magick, there was no road fate would let her walk that wasn't washed with it.  

            Neither the light nor the shadow was all that Willow was, not any longer.  Tara was beginning to realize that the path to Willow's survival was not on one side or the other, but on the fine line where the two halves met.

            Before long, Rogue and Lance returned.  The three of them poured over the local map, Rogue and Lance having had the shop owner highlight the 'bad parts of town' for them, key hotspots appearing to be the Bronze and the industrial district, though the whole town was considered dangerous territory after the sun went down.  Lance had likewise had a long trip and sprawled out on the other bed in the room for a nap.  Tara likewise felt her eyelids getting heavy.

            "Would you be all right if I got some sleep too?"  Tara asked Rogue cautiously, fearing a hostile reply.  

            "Go for it," was all that Rogue said, her voice weary and free from any anger as she looked over the map.  "I'll wake y'all if I need you, you can bet on that."

            Tara thought briefly about apologizing for the spell that had brought them all there, for being part of the world that had brought so much trouble to these young visitors, but there was little point.  Apologies wouldn't change anything now.  She surprised Rogue by crawling onto the other side of the bed that Lance occupied, but for Tara, it was an obvious choice.  There was only one red-haired girl that she felt inclined to share a bed with, after all.  

            Rogue stood, relatively alone now, and stared at herself in the mirror.  That jerk vampire, Hector, had hit her really hard.  She was surprised her jaw hadn't cracked.  Of course, she had Pietro's powers to thank for that, his bones had to be strong to take the impact of running so fast.  

            _Pietro, _she thought, a dull ache hitting her stomach as the thought hit her that he might be gone for good.  She missed his rakish smile, his funny forelocks, his spontaneity and charm.  She missed the thousands of featherlike kisses he could place on the back of her neck too quickly for anyone else to see, his fingers in her hair, she missed holding him close, gazing into eyes which were the purest, brightest blue, feeling their hummingbird-fast hearts trilling against each other's chest, and the kiss which always followed.  

            Rogue faced herself in the mirror, the bruise on her chin almost complimenting her makeup, the white locks of her hair falling across her face.  It was up to her to get him back and bring him home.  

            She laid the clothes she'd purchased on the dresser.  Everything was black.  She had to cover up more than she'd ever had to before, because when vampires punched, they didn't wear gloves and they frequently aimed for the face.  If they touched her skin, she'd be useless, retching on the ground with a clammy feeling of death inside her.  She'd need all her speed to rescue Pietro, and she couldn't afford to be slowed by anything.  Her solution was laid out in front of her.  Formalwear black gloves which came up to her elbow.  A long-sleeved turtleneck.  Leggings over pantyhose.  A slightly elastic scarf to wrap around her face.  She would have preferred a ski-mask, but southern California wasn't really the place to buy one.  It was as covered as she could get, and it would have to do.  She turned back to the beds, surveying who she had with her.  Jean could find Pietro as soon as he regained consciousness.  The fact that they were close to fault lines would amplify Lance's power, making him a heavy hitter, particularly if they had to face a large group.  As for Tara, Rogue was not sure what to do with the blonde girl.  She was their ticket home, and she'd been dealing with vampires a lot longer than the rest of them, but Rogue was still unsure how strong she was.  If Tara got hurt or killed, they'd all be trapped, unless Willow figured out some way to get them home.  

            Rogue sat on the floor, pulling out one of the sandwiches they'd bought and half heartedly eating.  _Why the hell can't I be powerful? _she thought.  _If I were like Magneto or Wolverine or Storm, none of this would've ever happened.  It's not like my power will do me any good here anyway, it's a liability.  God, I'm an idiot for even coming here.  Evan shoulda gone, or Scott.  _

            But then she thought about Pietro's face as he stood about to kill the blonde vampire, when he saw her come out of the locked room with Kitty, and thought about waiting in that stupid town, biting on her nails while someone else rescued her sweetheart.  She shook her head and carried on nibbling at her sandwich.  

            The time passed quicker than she'd expected, and before Rogue knew it, it was pushing one thirty in the afternoon.  She thought briefly of taking a nap herself, but just as she sat down on the bed next to Jean, the redhead sat bolt upright with a shriek.

            "Christ, Jean!"  Rogue replied, leaping off the bed.  "You tryin' to kill me?"

            Lance opened groggy eyes, arching an eyebrow briefly at Tara's presence a few feet away.

            "What's going on?" he asked.

            "Pietro's awake," Jean said.  

            Pietro groaned and lifted his head, looking around.

            "Fuck," he muttered to himself.  First a crypt, now a damned dungeon.  If he got out of this alive, he swore to himself he'd never set foot in another basement as long as he lived.  He was in a classic medieval cell- damp, dank stone and iron bars.  

            "Just so you know," a voice came from across the way.  "I blame you completely for this."

            Pietro squinted and saw the blonde vampire locked in the cell across from him.

            "Oh good," Pietro replied.  "Just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse, it's the poster boy for peroxide."

            "Oh like your hair's natural!" the vampire spat.  Pietro's jaw dropped with absolute indignation.

            "I would _never _bleach my hair," he replied frostily, only to be cut off as what appeared to be a pile of rags in the corner of the vampire's cell leapt up and attacked him.  

            "What are you doing here, Spike?"  a new voice hissed.

            "Great," Spike choked past the hands wrapped around his throat.  "Just what I always wanted.  A roommate."

            A pair of wild, dark eyes darted from Spike to Pietro.

            "Who's the child?" he snarled at Spike.  "What the hell have you done?"

            Spike grew sick of the interrogation and slammed his fist into the other man's face, breaking his hold.  Pietro watched as both leapt to their feet.

            "Goody bloody gumdrops," Spike muttered.  "Angelus."

            "Actually," the other man replied coldly.  "It's just Angel."

Okay, glossary goodness:

**Sunnydale characters: **

Buffy Summers- Buffy is, as you may know from the title of the show, the vampire slayer.  She's been through a lot of hard times in the past while, but mostly what you need to know is that she's basically in charge of the Sunnydale crew, and that she has a weird little affair going on with Spike.  The only person who knows about this affair is Tara.

Willow Rosenberg- Willow is an incredibly powerful witch who got into black magick and lost control.  She quit magick all together, but in this fic, she's decided to give magick a second try, opting to try and find balance and regain her control rather than try to keep magick out of her life.  She was once romantically involved with Tara, who broke up with her after Willow used magick to change Tara's memory on two occasions.  There's still a lot of emotion there, though, and Willow still loves Tara with all her heart.

Xander Harris- One of the few ordinary humans we'll encounter, Xander is a longtime friend of Willow and Buffy, and is engaged to Anya.

Anya- A former vengeance demon turned human, Anya owns the store "The Magick Box" and is engaged to Xander.  She loves money and commerce and is a firm believer in capitalism.

Dawn Summers- While she doesn't appear in the fic per se, Dawn is Buffy's younger sister, to whom Buffy feels the greatest responsibility, as Buffy and Dawn's parents are divorced, and the mother they lived with dead.  Buffy is Dawn's legal guardian.

Spike- English-accented and bleached-blonde, Spike is a vampire, and is evil- no, really!  However, he has a microchip in his head which causes him excruciating pain whenever he attacks a human.  (For the purposes of this fic, he is still capable of attacking mutants.)  He believes he is in love with Buffy, with whom he's had a torrid sexual relationship for a while.   He is still very mercenary, and has been known to engage in some extremely shady deals.

Bizarro Sunnydale Characters-  First, a note on Bizarro Sunnydale.  Several years ago, while she was still a vengeance demon, Anya granted a wish that Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale.  The result was a dark, macabre world in which vampires essentially ruled the town.  This wish was broken, and Sunnydale returned to normal, but this other Sunnydale, which we refer to as Bizarro Sunnydale, still exists. 

Vamp Willow-  In Bizarro Sunnydale, Willow has been turned into a vampire.  She's slinky, sexy, and violent.  She and Vamp Xander are a couple.  She and Xander were both turned by The Master, a very old and very powerful vampire.  She was once pulled into normal Sunnydale by accident, which is the only reason the normal Sunnydale characters (except Anya) know about the Bizarro Sunnydale at all.

Vamp Xander- Basically the same story as Vamp Willow, except he was never pulled into the normal Sunnydale.  He seems to know who Spike is and have a score to settle with him, though presumably there is a Bizarro Sunnydale version of Spike wandering around somewhere in the world.  (Bizarro Spike will not be appearing in this story).

Bizarro Angel- The vampire with a soul.  In the normal Sunnydale, Angel and Buffy used to be a couple, until Angel lost his soul when he experienced a moment of true happiness and became the evil vampire Angelus.  The complicated story of the normal Angel isn't really necessary.  Bizarro Angel has his soul, and is kept prisoner by Vamp Willow and Vamp Xander, who refer to him as 'Puppy' and torture him for fun.  

Okay, I hope that helps.  More on the way.


	3. Through the Looking Glass

AN:  Damnit, these chapters always look longer before I convert them to HTML.  Anyway, I was able to fulfil Rio's request, but unfortunately not Alan's.  I think I've been a little unclear as to what exactly I mean by Bizarro Sunnydale- this is Sunnydale as it would be _now_ if Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, she never arrived like she did in _The Wish_.  I can't really fit a Bizarro world mutant into the story, since if Sunnydale was that screwed up, Xavier never would have sent the X-Men there.  (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, anyway.)  Anyway, I also forgot to introduce Tara in my character glossary, so that's down at the bottom of this chapter.

            "I'll ask you again, Spike, why is that boy here?  Did you turn him?" Angel asked.  

            "No, you stupid git, I didn't turn him.  He's a speed demon.  Gifted human, rather."

            "Not much that can be done then…" Angel replied pensively.  "When they come for you, don't fight them.  If you bore them, they'll make it quick."

            "Make what quick?" Pietro asked, knowing damn well what the dark haired, dark eyed vampire meant.

            "Your death, boy," Angel replied stonily, bringing up his fist as Spike came at him again, until both vampires stopped still.  They heard footfalls coming downstairs, lazily.  Angel glanced upstairs apprehensively.  That would be the girl, Willow.  He never heard the vampire called Xander coming, but Willow liked to make her presence known and her arrivals drawn out.  He looked fearfully at the white haired boy, who was very young and very beautiful, and thought that a quick death was not in his cards if Willow had decided to keep him for a pet.  It usually took a week for her to get bored with a pretty human.  If the boy was lucky, she would get carried away 'playing' with him and kill him by accident.  That was the best he could hope for now.

            The red-haired vampire appeared around the corner with a sad look on her face, her lower lip protruding slightly.

            "Can't sleep," she pouted.  

            "Then what'd you come down here for?" Spike asked, taking another swing at Angel.  "A bedtime story?"  Willow smiled, baring sharp white teeth.

            "No, silly," she looked at Pietro, who gulped.  "A glass of warm milk."  She unlocked the door to Pietro's cell and crept inside.

            "Don't," Angel snarled, slamming against the bars of his cell.  Willow didn't even glance up, closing in on Pietro.

            "Five out of five for macho posturing," Spike muttered, sitting down on the floor resigned to being in a cell with his irritating self-righteous grand-sire for a very long time.  "Zero out of five for effectiveness."

            "Don't be scared little kitten, I won't hurt you very badly," Willow said.  "I just want a taste, a tiny taste."  Her hand snaked around Pietro's arm, pulling his wrist to her mouth as her demon self came out.  As she sank her fangs into his skin, he shut his eyes.  Vampire movies were full of shit, making the people vampires bit look like they were having fun, this hurt.  A lot.  Pietro twitched and opened his eyes as Willow lapped at the ragged flesh of his wrist.  He stared at her hard.  Her face was rapt as she drank his blood.  She broke away, gasping.

            "Wow…" the vampire said, blood glistening on her mouth.  "You're not at all ordinary, are you?"  

            "What do you mean?" Pietro asked.  Willow shivered, licking her lips.  

            "You taste like lighting and bad medicines…" she said, eyes wide.  Her hand strayed to the top of her corset.  "My heart's beating…"

            "That's not possible," Angel snarled from across the way.  "You're a dead thing, Willow, like us, and no boy's blood can change that!"  She rolled her head to look at the dark haired vampire with dreamy eyes.

            "You wanna take my pulse, puppy?"  she looked back at Pietro, grabbing his unwounded hand and pressing it against her chest.  "Tell him, kitty.  Tell him how hard my heart's beating," she said, eyes wild and intoxicated.

            Pietro snatched his hand away and moved away from her in disgust and rage.  

            "Oh, kitty wants to fight," Willow purred, advancing on him.  

            "Don't be an idiot," Angel snapped.  "He's the only human speed demon I've ever seen, you think you can just walk outside when the sun goes down, find another one?  If his blood gets you so hot and bothered, you'd better keep him in one piece."

            Willow's face fell.  

            "Puppy's got a point.  I have to take extra good care of you kitty, no matter how bad you are," her hand drifted over her heart again.  "This feels way too good to use up in a day."   

            She turned her head over to Spike and Angel's cell.

            "But I have to get my aggressions out somehow… any suggestions?"

            Jean shivered as she concentrated.  It was a very careful technique she'd been working on, reaching out into someone else's mind and seeing through their eyes.  What she'd seen through Pietro's eyes for the past few hours was disturbing to say the least.

            "She hurt him, but… now she's bandaging his arm…  She wants to keep him alive."

            "Who hurt him?" Rogue asked, her voice devoid of emotion as rage burned cold inside her stomach.

            "The red haired vampire.  Willow."

            Tara looked stricken and asked,

            "Wh what about Spike?"

            Jean shook her head, looking pale.

            "She's hurting him too, a lot worse… and there's someone else there, I can't make out his face, but he's trying to get Willow to leave Pietro alone, trying to make her hurt him instead.  He says his name's Angel."

            "Is it Warren?" Rogue asked, confused.

            "No, different Angel.  He's locked up with Spike.  God damn it, I can't tell where they are, Pietro was unconscious when they brought him there." Jean winced flinching away from whatever Pietro's eyes were watching.  

            "Stop looking Jean," Rogue said, touching her shoulder lightly. Jean broke the link, falling back onto the bed and rubbing her eyes. "Tara, is there any way…?" Rogue trailed off.  

            "There's a guidance spell I can do, it should lead us to them.  It's a little conspicuous."   

            "I get the impression that we're gonna get hassled if we're out after dark whether we're dressed in camo or clown costumes," Lance replied, sitting on the window sill and watching the sun hover about a palm's width above the horizon.  "But if we move it, we can get the jump on them.  Sun won't set for another couple hours."  

            "Do you have something of Pietro's?" Tara asked Rogue.  Rogue swallowed hard and shook her head.  Tara looked at Lance, who also shook his head.  Tara's face fell.  "I don't… I can't d..do the spell without something that's his…"  

Rogue shut her eyes and bit her lower lip, clenching her hands, then spun around and smashed her bare fist into the mirror, shattering it.  Jean and Tara, jumped, and Tara swallowed hard, edging away.

_"She's not angry with you," _Tara suddenly heard in her head.  She looked over at Jean, whose sad but unafraid face reassured her.  _"She's angry with herself."_

Rogue gritted her teeth hard, clenching her bleeding fist even tighter than before, letting the drops of blood that contained all the DNA that made her skin poison to everyone but Pietro fall to the carpet, the X-gene that she'd picked up from him that made her lightning fast soaking into the gray fiber to be forgotten.

_I'm not gonna cry, _she thought. _I'm not gonna be weak.  Crying won't help him-_

Her last thought was cut off as she felt a hand fall on her shoulder.  She opened her glassy eyes to see Lance standing behind her, reflected in the brokenmirror stained with her blood.  He turned her away from her broken reflection and silently put his arms around her shoulders.  She just stood there at first, stiff as stone.  Then he whispered quietly,

"It's not your fault, Rogue."

There was nothing she could do to stop herself from crying.  She broke down, sobbing on his shoulder, throwing her arms around him as he held her tightly.  

 "Why couldn't I be like every other stupid girl in the damn world and carry something of my boyfriend's?" Rogue choked out.  "Worn one of his stupid sweaters, or yanked out a couple strands of…," she paused, gasping for air between sobs. "…that goddamned perfect white hair… why couldn't I have held on tighter?  I didn't mean to let go, Lance, I didn't mean to…"

"Shhh… Rogue, you didn't let him go.  It's not gonna end like this.  I know you two, you'll find each other.  The devil himself couldn't pull you two lunatics apart, Rogue.  You're too fucking crazy _not_ to be together, no stupid vampires are gonna change that."

Rogue sat down on the bed numbly, her leadership shattered for the moment, still dwelling on how her simple act of not carrying some token of Pietro's had damaged her chances of getting him back alive.  

            "I never needed a souvenir, Pietro.  I had you," she said to herself.  

            "Is there any other spell you can do, Tara?" Jean asked.  

            Rogue didn't hear the discussion that took place.  She was too busy watching the blood drip from her hand, shutting her eyes as the pain in her hand paled compared to the pain in her heart.  She wondered what people would think if they came into this hotel room and saw all the blood.  Would they examine the DNA, see the mutant gene, and wonder what the hell had been there?  Her eyes snapped open.

            "Wait!  That's not true!" Rogue said, startling everyone.  "I have his powers.  His speed powers, I mean, they'renottangiblebutthey're_in_me-" she said, the very powers she spoke of kicking in as her voice sped up.

            "They sure are," Lance said wryly.  Tara blinked.

            "I've never tried it that way before.  There's no reason why it shouldn't work, especially if you still think of those… powers… as his."

            "What do I have to do?"  

            "For starters, catch some of that blood in a cup and bandage yourself up before you bleed to death," Tara said.  Lance grabbed a plastic cup sitting beside the ice bucket and ripped off its cellophane wrapper, holding the cup under Rogue's hand, catching the rapid drips.

            "Is this enough?" Lance asked.  Tara looked up from her bag and nodded.  Jean dragged Rogue into the bathroom, found the first aid kit and wrapped her hand in gauze, the two of them moving back out to see Tara drawing a circle on the floor in green chalk.  The green showed up clearly against the industrial gray of the carpet as Tara ground the marks in.  Lance squinted at the things she was writing.

            "Does that actually mean anything?" he asked skeptically.  Tara smiled kindly.

            "It means everything," she replied, dusting the chalk off her hands and picking up the cup of blood.  "Thespia, I implore thee, guide us to the boy whose magick calls to the magick in this blood, swift and surefooted, lighting quick and lightning clever.  Come," she said, pouring the blood into the center of the circle, "Come, come…"  

            Rather than splattering on the carpet, the blood stopped in midair, forming a sphere which burst into flame.  It floated before the door like an insistent puppy waiting to get out.  The three mutants and the witch looked at each other, then grabbed their bags of weapons, Rogue yanking on her gloves and throwing the scarf over her shoulders as they opened the door and followed the swift ball of garnet fire.  

            "Tell him we're coming, Jean," Rogue said.  

Character glossary- 

            Tara: .She's a witch, not as powerful as Willow, and is Willow's ex-girlfriend in the normal Sunnydale-verse.  Tara broke up with Willow after the second spell Willow cast to mess with Tara's memory (Willow was trying to make Tara forget something mean Willow had said to her.)  She was the first person to say Willow was using too much magick.  She stutters when she's nervous, she's beautiful and very kind.  


	4. You are the perfect drug.

AN- Okay this is a real short chapter 4, but I wanted to put up something.  Now I have to go clean.  Later!

            As the sun set, Xander was perched on top of the Bronze smoking a cigarette.  Three years ago, everything had been great.  Sunnydale had still been full of people, people stupid enough to go out after dark at that.  But the Master, the ancient and powerful vampire who had sired him, had had better ideas.  He wanted to revolutionize vampirism, so he created the Factory.  _Machines, _Xander thought with disgust.  It had seemed like such a good idea at the time- a whole army of machines that drained humans of their blood, drained them alive.  It was all downhill from there.  Cold blood in bottles and plasma bags.  Disgusting.

            Before long, the population of Sunnydale had thinned out to those too smart to go out after dark for any reason.  Xander remedied that by setting their houses on fire, but eventually they figured that out too and built fireproof shelters in which they spent the night.  Damned mortals, so fucking adaptable.  With food now scarce, the Master packed up his acolytes and left town, leaving Xander and Willow, once his favorites, and a handful of other vampires to preside over the Hellmouth while he moved on to try his Factory in a more urban location.  This left Xander and Willow in a virtual ghost town, picking off the occasional traveler or having to drive miles out of town to feed.  Of course, if they left, they were dead, the Master would find out, and have them killed.  So there they were, prisoners in that idiotic town that used to be so much fun.

            Willow coped the way she always coped, she tortured her 'puppy,' Angel.  In fact, she did that much more often than she paid attention to Xander.  So, when Willow was out doing whatever it was she did, he'd have his own little chats with Angel.  Unlike Willow, who talked and teased and taunted throughout her ministrations, Xander stayed deadly quiet.  He never uttered a word.  He'd once burned a hole clean through Angel's forearm with a  propane torch, another time he'd injected him with a syringe of holy water, but throughout the tortures he inflicted on Angel, he said nothing.  

            He felt strangely satisfied when he'd seen Spike arrive.  He hated the blonde vampire even more than he hated Angel.  Cocky, arrogant bastard had waltzed into Sunnydale a few months before the factory had opened, acting like he owned the place, with his idiot mystic of a vampire-girlfriend, Druscilla.  It had been instant dislike on all sides, and at the end of the battle, when he and Willow had the two older vampires on the ropes, the Master had ordered them to release them, with a warning never to come back to Sunnydale.  Spike's parting comments had been humiliating, but Xander had lucked out in the end: Spike had returned after all, and neither Druscilla nor the Master were there to help him this time.  

            Then there was the boy, the white haired boy.  Xander had a nagging feeling that Willow, when she realized that she simply wasn't careful enough to keep a human alive for long, would want to turn him.  Just what Xander needed, an annoying little brother and more competition for Willow's attention.   

            His bitter brooding was interrupted by pale, soft hands caressing his face.  He shut his eyes and smiled.

            "Bored, baby?" he asked, nipping at her fingers and playing with locks of blood colored hair.

            "Not tonight, I'm not.  Come down to the dungeon, I want you to try something," she said.  Xander silently got up and let her lead him, wondering what she had in mind.  

            Down the damp stone stairs they came softly.  Willow had done quite the number on Angel, less so on Spike.  _I'll fix that later, _Xander thought, eager to use his years of practice on Angel to make Spike scream for death.  But their cell was not the one to which Willow was leading him.  

            The white haired boy that Willow had dubbed her 'kitty' was sitting in the corner of his cell with his eyes closed.  

            "Did you miss me, kitty?"  Willow purred, draping herself around Xander and licking his earlobe possessively.  The boy opened his eyes.

            "Well, I would have, but you're an evil crazy bitch.  You see my dilemma,"  he replied.  Spike snickered from the other cell at this remark, only to have Xander pick up a barbed metal skewer leaning against the wall, and in one motion spin around and ram it into Spike's stomach, giving it a good twist before he let go.  Spike staggered back, spitting out blood.

            "I'll deal with you later, old man," Xander said coldly, turning his back on the cell.

            "You could at least pull it out first, you snide bastard," Spike muttered, then snarled in pain and fury.  Pietro glanced over at Angel, who was casually holding the bloody skewer.

            "That was the most fun I've had all year," Angel murmured, a touch of happiness creeping into his normally morose voice.  

            "Thanks bunches," Spike muttered back.  Willow and Xander ignored them both, watching Pietro carefully, Willow whispering in Xander's ear too softly for Pietro to make out what she was saying.  His patience quickly wore thin as a small smile appeared on Xander's lips.

            "So can I help you two, or are you just gonna start throwing peanuts?" he snapped.  Willow gave Pietro a sympathetic look.

            "You hungry kitty?"  Pietro looked at her cautiously.

            "More thirsty, actually…"

            "What a coincidence," Xander said, opening the cell door and vamping out.  "So am I."

            He remembered what Willow had said to him, about how this one was worth not killing, and to be gentle.  Gentle wasn't really in Xander's vocabulary, but he reluctantly went for the wrist that Willow had mauled the previous night, tearing away the gauze and biting down.  The boy twitched and made a small noise, trying not to cry out.  

            Xander didn't say anything at all as he broke away from Pietro's arm, the gleam in his hard eyes brighter.  Willow leaned past him and took a long drink herself.  She got up and licked her lips, replacing the bandage around Pietro's wrist, then the two vampires stepped out of his cell and locked it behind them.  Willow smiled benevolently at them all, while Xander just looked hungrier.  

            "We're gonna go out for a while, kids, you be good while we're gone," Willow said, rattling the ring of keys along the bars of the cell.  "Back before dawn."

            "Take your time," Pietro muttered.

            "You'd better bring the boy back some food and water unless you want him to starve here," Angel shouted after them.  He looked across the way to Pietro's cell.  "Are you all right?"  Pietro rolled his eyes and sighed, rubbing his temple with his good hand.

            "Feeling a little anemic.  But other than that, peachy swell."

            "How did you get here, anyway?  Don't you know what this place is?"  Angel asked.  Pietro laughed a short laugh.

            "I know damn well where I am.  Where I was anyway.  I was in a much better Sunnydale than this, though frankly all of them piss me off on a variety of levels.  I was about to kill that jackass," he said, indicating Spike, "For putting my girlfriend in grievous fucking harm's way, and all of the sudden, here we were.  Up the creek without a stake."

            Spike started to say something snide, but Pietro didn't hear.

            _Quicksilver?  Can you hear me? _the voice came, not the voice he wanted to hear, but it'd do for the time being.

            _Gray?  That you?  _

            _Sure is.  We're coming to get you.  _

_            Is Rogue all right? _he asked.

            _Yes, she's with us.  Do you have any idea where the vampires are?_

_            The two giving me shit just said they were going out, so watch your backs._

_            Sit tight, we're on our way._

"Like I've got a choice, Gray," Pietro grumbled out loud.  Spike was still ranting.  "Look blondie, I stopped listening to you before you ever started talking, so stop wasting whatever it is that makes your vocal cords go."

            Angel smirked from the other cell.

            "I like you, kid," he said.

            "Thanks," Pietro replied, to fatigued and hurting to be flattered.  "But I guarantee you don't like me nearly as much as _I _like me."


	5. Very bad things

AN:  Okay, I'm just gonna warn you now, this chapter ends in a cliffhanger.  I know some of you hate that.  I'm working on the next chapter now, so you won't have to hang too long.  Anyway, things I don't own: The Flash is owned by DC comics, The Breakfast Club is owned by the 80s, and Lightbright is owned by some toy company.  Lots of violence and some pretty unpleasant innuendo in this chapter, including an unpleasant kiss, and the usual foul lingo.  Okay, warnings done, on we go.  Oh yeah: Thank you thank you thank you thank you to anyone who bothers to read this stuff.  ; )  

            For the first time in her life, Rogue found herself longing for Scott's stupid little clown car, or any car for that matter.  They'd been following the red sphere for miles, and she was starting to think their magick guide must be lost.  

The rational part of her wanted to find Pietro and that stupid blonde vampire and get the hell out of dodge.  There was another part of her that wanted to make the two vampires who'd been hurting her boyfriend pay very slowly and very dearly for ever having laid a finger on Pietro Maximoff.  Then, once they were dust, she wanted to steal Lance's powers and bury Sunnydale in the cracks of the earth and bid the west coast a permanent goodbye.   For now, she'd settle for Pietro, her friends, and herself making it out of this world alive.

            Jean had spoken to Pietro, who'd said that the vampires who'd hurt him were out and about.  As a result, Rogue looked liked a particularly feminine ninja, her whole body covered except her hair and her face above the scarf.  After all, skin to skin contact with a vampire, and Rogue would be too busy throwing up to save herself, let alone anyone else.  

            Jean was keeping her mind open, since in a town so deserted, thoughts were sparse enough for her to pick up.  Other than her companions, she sensed no one, a strange feeling for her anyplace.  Usually there were stray thoughts floating about like dust, or pollen, or snow.  The streets of Sunnydale were empty, so instead, she found herself picking up the roar of rage that was beneath Rogue's outward silence, Lance's concern and determination, and Tara's apprehension.  She stopped still as she picked up something else.  

            "Wait," Jean said.  Tara caught the sphere, which floated above her hand as the four of them stopped in their tracks.  Jean listened with her mind, hearing the vague thrum of someone high.  "One, maybe two, and they're drugged up on something."  She gasped as though she'd been hit by ice water as she picked up a stray image from one of them, of a white haired boy whose blood made them feel more alive than they had in years.  Jean looked at Rogue sharply.

            "It's them."

            "Tara, Jean, you two keep following that lightbright after Pietro," Rogue said.  Lance grinned, picking up on her plan.

            "Rogue and I'll take care of the children of the night," he finished, cracking his knuckles.  Jean opened her mouth to argue, but Rogue cut her off.

            "Go before they see you.  Now."

            Tara held up her hand and blew on the sphere as if blowing a kiss, and it took off again, Jean and Tara tearing after it as fast as they could follow.  They disappeared down an alley before long, leaving Lance and Rogue standing in the middle of the deserted street.

            "Okay," Lance said.  "Now how do we get them to come out here?"  

            Rogue smirked.

            "Easy.  Bait."

            She tugged off her right glove, peeling away the bandage from her hand and letting blood drip on the ground.  

            Xander was the first to catch the scent of fresh blood in the air.

            "Smell that, baby?"

            "Mmm hmm," Willow replied.  "Something hurt and out past bedtime."

            The two started running like lions through the grass after gazelle, swift and strong, towards the source.

            Rogue wrapped her hand back up and pulled her glove back on, setting her backpack on the ground and pulling out a few stakes, sticking one in each back pocket and keeping one in her hand.  Lance followed her lead, two in each of his larger pockets and one in his hand.

            "What's the plan?" he asked.  Rogue scanned the streets for their adversaries.

            "Well, assuming they take the bait, wait for them to get close.  Twenty feet.  Then shake 'em up hard and fast.  Then I'll make 'em disappear."

            "Kinda basic, isn't it?"

            "No time to come up with anything more complicated.  Here they come."

            Sure enough, the two vampires emerged from separate alleys, eyeing Rogue and Lance.

            "What have we here… Reject from the Breakfast Club…" Willow purred, glancing over both mutants but focusing on Lance, who both stood their ground silently.  

            "Costume party Wills.  Check out the ninja schoolgirl.  Maybe I need a pet of my very own," Xander said, looking hungrily at Rogue.

            _Not yet, _Rogue thought, though Lance couldn't hear her. _Not yet Lance. _ Willow seemed to twitch at the idea of Xander having a girl to torture, but turned on the oily charm as she gazed at Lance.  

            "I like the boy.  Look how rugged, " Willow purred sarcastically.  "And they brought stakes."

            "But no crosses," Xander said, approaching a little more.  "That's the tricky thing about stakes little girl, they tend not to work when someone… for the sake of argument, let's just say, me… has already shattered every bone in your hands."

            Lance held his breath, and the vampires finally got close enough.  He stretched out his hands and gritted his teeth.  His eyes rolled back and the ground started to shake.  Rogue held her breath and struggled to keep her footing, going for the crossbow in her backpack, as the vampires were knocked down.  Rogue lined up her shot and fired, but the tremors made her shot go high, and the bolt planted itself in the redhead's shoulder.

            Willow snarled and yanked the bolt out of her shoulder.  The tremors started to weaken as Lance struggled to maintain control.  

            "For once, baby, I think I wanna get this over with quickly," she snarled to Xander.  

            "The rebel without a clue is the one shaking things up," Xander replied.  "Knock him out, I'll take care of the ninja bitch."

            The two vampires stood up, still unsteady, and Rogue swallowed hard.

            "Wearing out, Rocky?"

            "'Fraid so, toots," Lance replied, his forehead creased with the effort and the headache that came with using his powers for an extended period.  

            "Let it go, Lance, grab a stake and get ready."

            Lance stopped the earthquake, recovering quickly, and tightening his grip on the stake in his hand.  Xander and Willow quickly regained solid footing and looked intensely at the two mutants.  

            "You're gonna bleed, little girl," Willow snarled softly at Rogue.  Rogue just rolled her eyes and waved her gloved right hand.

            "Bleedin' already, Red," Rogue replied, her voice muffled by the scarf.  "You vampires are such suckers."  

            Willow was not used to indignities, such as being knocked on her ass by earthquake causing boys and being insulted by her food.  But if there was one thing she would not tolerate, it was being 'trapped'.  She let out a furious shriek and rushed at Rogue.  Just as her hands were about to close around the mutant's turtlenecked throat, Rogue was suddenly not there.  Willow's eyes widened as she was shoved from behind and went crashing to the street.

            "You're fast," Rogue said to the vampire, who rushed her again.  Rogue sidestepped her again, with as little difficulty as before.  "But as my roommate would say, I'm, like, totally faster."

            Xander caught Willow as she tripped again.

            "Ah ah ah, baby.  Ninja girl is my kill.  You go have fun with Mister Shakes."

            "Don't wanna," Willow said in a low voice, a dangerous look in her eye.

            "Come on, Red," Lance called out.  "Don't make me stake you from behind."

            Xander sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose as Willow snarled and leapt after the brown haired boy.  _Such a temper on that girl._  

            "So, you're one part Ninja, one part Flash.  Any more surprises I should know about?" he asked.  Rogue just cocked her head to one side, the scarf obscuring her mouth.

            "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"

            He saw the stake first as Rogue reached around him from behind to take a stab at him.

            "Oh, come on," he replied, grabbing her arm and flipping her expertly over his shoulder.  He was about to follow that up with an elbow drop to her throat, but she rolled with the fall, then reversed the motion, vaulting up onto her hands and slamming both feet into his face.  

            Xander staggered back, laughing, even though his lip was split from the impact.  Rogue had landed on her feet with her back to him, so she attempted to follow her attack up with a  roundhouse kick to hit him again on his way down.  She looked up, shocked, as he caught her foot just before it impacted his head and, giving it a shove upwards and forwards, knocked her off balance.  She couldn't catch herself, but she quickly moved to a crouch as Xander walked towards her.  

            "I'm going to do terrible.  Disgusting.  Painful.  Unnatural things to you, little girl," he whispered with a smile on his face.  Rogue remained low as she readjusted her scarf over her face.  "Going to an awful lot of trouble to cover up, aren't you.  Something tells me that this isn't just maiden modesty.  Something tells me that someone just _hates _to be touched.  Torturing you is gonna be too easy."

            "Something tells me you should shut the fuck up," Rogue replied acidly.  _You took the one person I can touch, bloodsucker.  _

            Rogue scowled, lashing out her foot and sweeping his legs out from under him.  He tumbled to the ground, but retaliated with a foot to her stomach as she leapt to stake him, launching her several feet away from him.  Her head hit the ground, stunning her for a second.  She started to push herself up when the vampire leapt and landed in front of her, putting a foot on her chest.

            "You'd be surprised how the number of bones a person can survive being broken."

            "You're not strong enough to break my bones," Rogue replied, struggling to extricate herself.  Xander kicked her hard in the side, then grabbed her by the front of her shirt.  

            "Oh really?  Well, just wait until you meet my friend Mister Sledgehammer and his best buddy Mister Cinderblock.  I think between the three of us, we can work something out."

            Rogue lashed out with her fist, but Xander caught her arm and twisted it behind her back, releasing her shirt and forcing her against his chest.  

            "You see, what with Wills over there being all gaga over that kid with the white hair, I really haven't had the chance to unwind lately.  But now I've got a toy of my very own to play with," he purred.  Rogue rolled her eyes.

            "Okay, all I have to say to that is _gross._"  

            She got serious as he ripped the scarf off her face.  

            "Such a sharp tongue you've got.  I think I'll have to bite it out."

            Rogue shut her eyes and screamed as Xander pressed his lips against hers.


	6. Exit

AN: I know, some of my updates have taken longer, but hey, here it is.  This is essentially the last chapter, though I think I will write an epilogue.  Just for reference for non-Buffy fans, in case this isn't clear- Vampires have a human face, and then a demon face, which is kinda distorted, that comes out when they feed or get really angry, etc.  Anyway, disclaimers du jour:  I don't own Bruce Lee, Girls Gone Wild (Thank the gods), 

            _If I'm lucky, I'll puke on him, _Rogue started to think, but then she realized something: she didn't feel cold, or sick, or clammy inside.  And the vampire who'd presumed to stick his tongue in her mouth was twitching slightly.  In addition, she was feeling distinctly stronger and more predatory.  She opened her eyes and realized: she was draining the strength out of Xander.  

            As quick as she could, she ripped her gloves off and grabbed his face, pushing it away from hers but still hanging on.  _I don't get it, _Rogue thought.  _I oughta be retching my spleen out by now.  _Xander finally went limp and slipped out of her grasp.  Rogue shuddered- her face became animalistic and distorted as the vampire's had, and she found herself sporting a set of really sharp canines.  She shook her head, running her tongue along the edge.

            "Goddamn.  A year ago, I woulda thought that this was the coolest thing ever," she muttered to herself, running as fast as she could towards Lance and Willow.

            Lance had been playing a defensive game with the red-headed vampire chick.  Every time she got less than six feet away from him, he'd send a short, sharp tremor her way and knock her down, then move back while she was collecting herself.  The more times he knocked her down, the more pissed of she got, and the more pissed off she got, the more sloppy her fighting got.  However, Lance was also getting damned tired, and the more pissed off Willow got, the more she seemed like she could go all night.  He was about to raise his hands to slam her again when Willow went flying backwards about twenty feet.  Lance blinked twice, then started laughing:  Rogue stood where the red-headed vampire had been, looking smug as she lowered her left arm, her face distorted as Willow's had been.

            "Nothing like a clothesline at eighty miles an hour, is there Rogue?"  Lance asked.

            "Sure ain't."

            "Okay, I'm guessing you're sporting demon face cause you slipped vamp-boy some skin.  Why aren't you puking?"  he asked looking at her lack of gloves and the unconscious Xander and sorting out what had gone on, leaning down with his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.  She shrugged.

            "My only guess is that whatever shots evil vampire scientist boy gave me did somethin' weird to my metabolism, made it so I absorb their strength and not their… clamminess."

            Willow got up and glared over at Xander.

            "That's what you get for kissing strange girls, baby," she said in a low angry voice.  Rogue thought the redhead was going to attack her, but instead she ran past, over to Xander's body and picked something up.  When she turned around, she was pulling on the black evening gloves that Rogue had abandoned.  Rogue smiled appreciatively.

            "You did the math, red, I'm impressed."  Willow narrowed her eyes, still speaking in the low, flat tone that sent chills up Lance's spine.  

            "Smarter than him," Willow replied, flexing her fingers in the gloves.  "Always have been."

            _You know, if I had a movie camera, I could make a fortune off this footage.  Hot goth girl, hot, incredibly skanky red-haired vampire in a chick fight.  It's like Bruce Lee meets Girls Gone Wild. _ Lance thought, before taking several steps back to get out of the way of this particular fight.

            The fight didn't last long.  With the advantage of Xander's strength and her own speed, it wasn't long before Rogue wrapped her hands around Willow's throat and drained the red-head's strength until she also fell unconscious.

            "You're not gonna try and bite me now, are you?" Lance asked, only half kidding.  Rogue turned and looked at him with a sharp toothed smile.

            "You're not my type.  Come on, I know where they're keeping Pietro."

            "What about those two?" Lance said.  Rogue pouted in a slightly Willow-esque way that made Lance want to run screaming for his life.

            "No fun staking them when there's not gonna be any screaming," Rogue said, looking over at them.  "Let's let the morning take care of 'em." 

            Rogue took her gloves back from Willow's unconscious body and, using her stolen strength, picked up Lance like a sack of potatoes and ran off at top speed.

            "Brother, you are _heavy_," Rogue said as they reached the Bronze, unceremoniously dropping Lance.

            "Ow," Lance replied.  "Yeah, I'd like to thank you for that view of your ass the whole trip that I could've totally lived without," he grumbled.  Rogue rolled her eyes as she kicked in the door to the Bronze.

            "The trip only took thirty seconds, Rocky, don't whine."

            Lance got up and dusted himself off, following Rogue into the building.  There was blood all over the floor, rusty colored dust which had been there for years.  It took them a while to find the stairs, heading down into the dark basement.

            "We gotta go after them!" Pietro's voice floated up.

            "They're fine, Pietro, I would feel it if they weren't," Jean said.  Rogue stopped before she reached the bottom of the stairs.  She could see Jean sitting and bandaging up Pietro, Tara attending to the man they'd called Angel, and Spike sulking in the corner, being attended to by no one.  _Pietro, _she thought… he looked exhausted and cranky and inviting, and more than anything he looked like he was itching to find her.  She brought her hand up to her face, feeling the demonic mask that she'd stolen along with the vampires' strength.  

            "Rogue?" Lance asked quietly.  

            "The things that they wanted to do to him… it was horrible…" Rogue whispered.  "I can't let him see me like this."  She turned and pushed past Lance, running up the stairs and out of sight.  Lance was about to run after her when he felt a hand on his shoulder.  He turned around, expecting Pietro or Jean, but instead saw the dark haired vampire, Angel.

            "Do you mind if I talk to her?  Kinda my area of expertise."

            Rogue sat crouched on the roof of the Bronze.  It had been an easy leap for her to get up there, but she was too afraid to be seen by Pietro looking like the thing that had hurt him.  

            "Nice night," someone said.  Rogue looked up to see the dark haired man that Willow had called her puppy.  Angel.  "Of course, it's been a while since I got out of the house.  I hear I have you to thank for that."

            "Not really.  More like Tara and Jean," Rogue muttered.  Angel sat down on the roof next to her.

            "That's not what they say," he said.  Rogue didn't say anything.  "That's not what the white haired kid said either.  What's his name?  Pedro?"

            "Pietro," Rogue replied.  "Pietro Maximoff."

            "He said a lot about you.  He never seemed scared or worried at all, even when they were hurting him.  I asked him about it actually."

            Rogue remained silent.  _This chick's even more prone to brooding than I am, _Angel thought, continuing.  "He just said that his girl would be there to get him any minute.  Which begs the question: Any particular reason that he's down there and you're up here?"

            Rogue raised her face, still vamped-out.

            "How can I go down there looking like the things that hurt him?" she asked.  Angel looked at her gravely.

            "Because you're not the things that hurt him.  I'm a vampire, you know."

            "You sure don't act like one."

            "Gypsies cursed me with a soul.  I have a conscience."

            "Swell," Rogue replied flatly.

            "Worst thing that ever happened to me," Angel replied, almost too quietly to hear.  "What did you do with Willow and Xander?"

            "They're unconscious.  I doubt they'll wake up before dawn."

            "Just in case, let's go get them," Angel said.  "Wouldn't want them coming back pissed.  Besides.  It'll give you time to work off your… aggressions."

            Rogue nodded.  Maybe by the time she got back, Willow and Xander's powers would have worn off.  Maybe.

            "I'm fine, I'm fine I'mfineI'mfineI'mfineI'mfineI'm_fine!!"_ Pietro roared as Jean kept holding him down telekinetically.  

            "Would you calm down?" Jean snapped irritably.  

            "I want to see Rogue.  Why isn't she here?" Pietro asked, eyes darting suspiciously from Jean to Lance to Tara.  

            "She went to take care of something," Jean said.

            "Bullshit, goddamn it," he snapped.  Lance looked away guiltily.  _"Lance?"_ Pietro said, and the older boy looked back at him.  "Where is she?"

            "She didn't want you to see her."

            Pietro's eyes widened.

            "That's not possible."

            "Look, she absorbed Xander and Willow's powers," Lance said.  "And her face went all…"

            "Like this?" Spike said helpfully, vamping out.  Tara smacked him lightly.

            "Thanks," Lance growled.  "She didn't want to come in looking like them."

            "That's ridiculous," Pietro said.  

            "Well, you're not the only shallow one, bro.  She just didn't want you to see her looking like the thing that hurt you.  You know?"

            "I guess I get it," Pietro said.  "I just want to see her."  

            "You're going to have to wait for her to get back," Jean said, continuing to psychically sit on him.  

            "Dammit, Gray-"

            "Do _not _test me, Pietro!"  Jean growled.  Pietro sighed and shut up, as three mutants, a human, and a vampire all waited for Rogue to return.

            "Whaddaya wanna do with them?" Rogue asked as she and Angel stood over the unconscious vampires.

            "Got any stakes?" he asked.

            "Left 'em on the roof."

            "That's okay," he said, picking up Xander's limp body and holding it in a fireman's carry.  "I've got a better idea anyway.  Would you?"  Angel nodded towards Willow.  Rogue picked her up and ran at a pace to match Angel's back towards the Bronze.

            Rogue's hair obscured her face as she and Angel walked back into the dungeon under the Bronze carrying Willow and Xander.  They dumped the two vampires into separate cells and shut the iron gates.  Pietro struggled against Jean's hold again, trying to get up.

            "GOD _DAMN IT, GRAY!_" Pietro shouted, but Jean remained impassive, arms crossed and eyes shut.  Angel touched her lightly on the shoulder.

            "It's okay.  Let him up."

            Jean arched an eyebrow, but did so.  Pietro was in front of Rogue instantly.

            "God,babyImissedyousomuch, Iknewyouwerecomingeven before Gray told-" he said quickly, cutting off as Rogue flinched away from the hand he raised to push the hair out of her face.

            "Don't look at me…" she whimpered.  Pietro raised both hands and pushed the hair back from her face.  He looked her in her eyes, looked at her demonic face, and kissed her fanged mouth, winding his arms around her.  All fear left her, and as she relaxed into Pietro's arms, the vampire face slipped away, leaving only Rogue's soft, pale face behind.

            Tara smiled.  _Kissed the demon right out of her, _she thought.  Out loud she said,

            "I'll set up the circle for our return."  Jean was about to offer to help when Angel touched her shoulder again.

            "Could you do me a favor?"  he asked.  Jean's heart broke in her chest, just to look at him.  There was sorrow and pain in his eyes, and there were many scars in his carefully guarded thoughts.  

            "Anything," Jean said.  

            "I'm led to believe you're a telepath.  Right when you leave, not a moment before, can you… project a thought into my head, a memory?"

            "Of what?"  Jean asked.  

            "True happiness," Angel replied.  "Have you ever had a moment of pure, untainted happiness?"

            Jean thought back to the moment that Scott had finally, after a week of reticence, told her in a shaking voice that he loved her and cared for her, and had since the very day they met.  

            "I have.  And I'd gladly share it with you." 

            "Jean?  Spike?" Tara said quietly.  "We're ready."

            Jean and Spike joined Tara, Lance, Pietro and Rogue in the circle, while Angel seated himself in a chair against the wall between the two cells.  

            "You could come with us," Rogue said to Angel.  

            "Oh god no," muttered Spike, only to be telekinetically hit very hard in the back of the head.  "Ow."

            "You're lucky we don't leave you behind," Lance muttered.  Angel sighed at Rogue's invitation and shook his head.

            "I couldn't.  I belong here.  With them," Angel replied, glancing at Xander and Willow, who were beginning to stir.  "Leave now."

            Tara began the spell, reaching out to Willow's shining power from across the boundaries of a different universe, just as Jean reached out to Angel's.  As the circle was filled with light, Jean shared with Angel her most perfect moment of happiness and joy.  When the light faded, the four mutants, the vampire, and the witch were gone.

            Pain rocked through Angel's body as he saw Jean's memory.  Every curse comes with a way to lift it, even curses on vampires.  The gypsies who cursed Angel had shared something with him: the curse would end when he experienced a moment of true happiness.  There had been no happiness for him, not since the day he was born.  He shuddered on the floor, his eyes glowing eerily as, in that moment of happiness, his soul left his body.  All conscience, all pity, all remorse were gone.  In that moment, the tormented Angel returned to his former self, the brutal, the unholy, Angelus.  He pushed himself off the floor, feeling terribly light without the weight of a soul to hinder him, and relaxed into his chair in the shadows as Xander and Willow began to rouse from their slumber.

            "Wakey wakey, children," the monster Angelus intoned from the darkness as the two regained consciousness.  "Story time."

            "Puppy got out,"  Willow moaned as she opened her eyes.  Xander gave her a furious look from behind the bars of his own cell.

            "So did your damned kitty," he snarled, hissing at the pain in his limbs.

            "Xand, Wills, how long have we known each other…  Two, three years?  It's so hard to keep track of time down here…" Angelus mused.  "During that time, we've been through a lot together.  Fire.  Crosses.  Rusty knives.  Holy water.  You remember, you were there.  But you know, all that time, through all your fun and games, only one word ever crossed my mind."

            Willow and Xander felt a sinking feeling as the older vampire rose from his seat, his eyes shining darkly, the rest of his face obscured by shadows.  This was not the Angel they remembered.  

            "What word is that?" Xander asked.  Angelus smiled.

            "Amateurs."

And that's pretty much the end of that.  I think there's gonna be an epilogue, reunion of X-Men, etc.  Thanks to everyone who's read, reviewed, given it a second look.  


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